Spinal Tap - Back From The Dead Review

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Don't call it a comeback. Because it's not.

By Finn White

Mocku-metal legends, Spinal Tap, make a(nother) comeback with their third non-fictitious album, Back From The Dead. While not quite a 's*** sandwich,' it does leave a rather disappointing taste in the mouth.

The album includes eight brand new tracks plus rerecorded versions of all eleven songs from the soundtrack to This Is Spinal Tap, the Rob Reiner cult classic that originally introduced 'one of England's loudest bands' to the world in 1984.

The biggest problem is Back From The Dead brings nothing new to the Spinal Tap universe. Without exception, the 'classic' songs are inferior to the originals; most sounding virtually the same, sprinkled with some extra production flair in places, but overall having a thinner and weaker sound.

Two classics have been reinvented in new genres. "(Funky) Sex Farm" is done in a pseudo James Brown style and "(Listen To The) Flower People" gets a reggae interpretation. The ideas have limited humor from the start, and their execution is unconvincing. A stronger choice would have been to justify the remakes; perhaps by demonstrating the far-reaching influence of Tap's music, fabricating live recordings a la Neil Diamond covering UB40 covering his own song, "Red Red Wine."

The new songs are neither funny nor rockin'. "Jazz Oddyssey," an endless free-form jazz number that keeps coming back, is another funny-on-paper idea that, in reality, becomes tedious to sit through. "Short And Sweet;" an epic bluesy jam featuring guest appearances by John Mayer, Steve Vai and Phil Collen (of Def Leppard); comes closest to being a musically legitimate song.

Since 1992's Break Like The Wind, self-aware over-the-top metal has been done awesomely by The Darkness and hilariously by Tenacious D. The original Spinal Tap work is successful because the songs are great and the sound is completely convincing; and the band themselves have no idea they are funny. Now the trio seem to know they are a joke; and worse, have no idea why they would be funny in 2009.

Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer needed to heighten the concept to stay relevant; perhaps applying their satirical genius to comment on the current state of music, playing veterans trying to keep up by taking on pop punk like Papa Roach, or shock glam like Marilyn Manson, or maybe even vulgar vocoder-laced pop hip hop (think "Big Bottom" featuring will.i.am). Or, if what's really going on is the guys just want to play the songs again, a genuine live album with a few bonus tracks would have been thoroughly welcome.

On a positive note, the physical release features one of the coolest packaging concepts. Ever. The CD case unfolds into a hilarious Spinal Tap in concert diorama, complete with Stonehenge set piece, including paper dolls of old school action figures of lead singer David St. Hubbins, lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel and bassist Derek Smalls. Set it up, throw on the original This Is Spinal Tap soundtrack, and crank it up to eleven.